Leicester Archives: Campaigns and elections
Pollution protest in Leicester
Demo against social security minister
Socialist Vote on Braunstone
Other past campaigning
Pollution protest in Leicester
Anger over pollution from a local factory, resulted in a demonstration last week by residents of the Aylestone area of Leicester.
Steve Score spoke to Jillian and Jacqueline Drinkwater:
"We are protesting because of emissions from Saracens Dyeworks which are having an effect on the health of people in the area. It gives off a blue haze and an obnoxious smell. We have been prisoners in our own houses for almost two years now, its worse in the summer. When people go on holiday the symptoms disappear then return when they get back.
We did a small survey and got 50 written statements from people saying that they were suffering from sore eyes, tickly coughs and sore throats. We cannot put our washing out, it gets covered in oily droplets and is so bad it needs washing again.
When they first moved in they had no chimney and the emissions were drifting over the local primary school. We called in the environmental health people and the firm was forced to put up a chimney. But the chimney wasn't high enough and the pollution still happens.
Despite being taken to court twice we are still having the problems. They said they would use a new process, but we haven't noticed any difference. We cannot wait any longer, we demand it is cleaned up immediately. We are not demanding closure, we don't want any jobs to be lost- there have been too many gone round here already. In fact we have spoken to some of the workers and they have sympathy with us.
Saracen's solicitors issued us with a legal threat that if our protest resulted in any lost trade they would take out an injunction against us. That will not stop us we are going to carry on the campaign until they clean up their act."
Postscript:
Campaigners have achieved a success in getting the City Council to promise
to collect information with a view to getting a High Court injunction to stop
pollution by Saracen Dye works.
This came after local residents from the campaign put a question to the
council's Public Health and Environment scrutiny committee demanding
effective action. Despite the firm previously getting a £6,000 court fine,
people in the area are still experiencing smells, heavier than air fallout
and a blue fog.
Pressure needs to be kept up to make sure the council sticks to its promise
Not our Darling! (17
July 1998)
A "fat cat" greeted the social security
minister, Alistair Darling, with a shout of "Thanks
for the money darling!" when he visited Braunstone
estate in Leicester this week. Wearing a giant papier-mâché
cat head, a businessman’s suit and complete with
furry paws and tail, the fat cat continued to serenade
the minister with a rendition of "I’m in the
money". However Mr Darling was not amused.
At very short notice Socialist Party members with the
support of members of the Leicester Independent Labour
Network and local residents organised a small demo in
protest against benefit cuts. We gave him a petition of
500 signatures against the cuts in incapacity and
disability benefits which have taken place. We were also
protesting against the new "ONE" proposals
which will force claimants of a range of benefits
including Incapacity Benefit, Lone Parent Benefit, Severe
Disability Benefit, Invalid Care Allowance and Widow’s
Benefit to attend "work focused interviews". In
other words attempting to force people off benefits and
in to low paid work.
The fat cat was there to highlight the fact that the
government found money to hand out to the rich such as in
corporation tax cuts, yet was claiming it had no money to
pay out in benefits.
Darling was supposed to be going on a "meet the
people" type walkabout but seemed somewhat reluctant
to meet the people who had turned up with placards. It
was the first "walkabout" ever done from a
speeding minibus!
He was visiting Braunstone because it is one of a
number of the poorest estates in the country being
allowed to bid for money from the government’s
"New Deal for Communities". The area could, if
successful, get £80 million spread over a number of
years to improve "employment, health, housing and
crime". No one is going to complain if the area gets
money to provide desperately needed community facilities,
do housing repairs etc, but there is a lot of scepticism
about it locally. For years cuts have been made to
council services, bus services have been cut, and a big
campaign has been waged in an attempt to stop the council
shutting the local secondary school. It seems like the
government cuts money year on year, then holds a lottery
to allow a few estates to get back some of the money they
have lost. People in the area are mainly low paid or on
benefits. If the government seriously want to solve the
problem of poverty and "social exclusion", then
decent jobs, a decent minimum wage level and benefits you
can live on would be a start!
A couple of our members got into a meeting between
Darling and invited local residents. Dave Baum asked him
about the benefit cuts and got an answer which was in
Dave’s words "Bureaucratic bullshit". At
least we made him aware of the real feelings of working
class people and that we will not be "pussy cats"
in the face of New Labour’s attacks!
LABOUR LOSE BRAUNSTONE: Socialist Alternative get
10% of vote.
People in Braunstone voted Labour out in the Council
elections on May 6th. Voters had had enough of
councillors who voted for school closures and council
cuts year after year. Now we have 2 Liberal councillors.
What we need is councillors who will oppose any measures
by the council to take away local facilities, make cuts
in services etc. and will fight to keep local schools -
will the Libs deliver - we don’t think they will. (What
a shame - we lost our council leader Sir Peter Soulsby!!)
_____________________________________
North Braunstone Ward Leicester City Council
Lib 1(sitting cncillor) 752 Lib 2 671 Lab1 (sitting
cncillor) 331 Lab 2 312 Tracy Woolman: Socialist
Alternative 140 Steve Score:Socialist Alternative 127
Tory1 102 Tory2 99 SLP1 39 SLP2 34
Support for the Socialist Party is clearly growing. Of
course we will, as always carry on campaigning. Thanks
for your votes, now all you need to do is join!
Leicester Branch news 17 March 1999
The Banned Party
As you may know, the New Labour Government has banned
us from standing in elections under our own name
Socialist Party. More details can be found in The
Socialist. This immediately affects us in Leicester as we
plan to stand in the City Council elections on North
Braunstone. We are currently attempting to organise
protests to the government and are nationally we going
for a Judicial Review first hearing this week.
We still intend to stand what ever obstacles these
petty dictators try to put in our way. We need people to
volunteer to help in the election. All sorts of things
need to be done: leafletting, getting people to put
posters up, doorknocking, stalls, admin work etc.
Low Pay Demo April 10th
We are building up to this demo, and already have a
list of people we have got interested both in the demo
and our party. There are free coaches going to Newcastle
on the day, please let us know straight away if you can
go. We had a good meeting with Dave Nellist, Socialist
Party councillor on the subject last night.
Save Free Education
We had a speaker from the Oxford University fees non
payment campaign at Charles Keene College and Leicester
University who gave people the confidence that a mass
campaign of non payment of tuition fees can be built.
Through this mini- tour we have met more people who are
keen to campaign on fees, and we have the beginnings of a
non payment campaign at Leic Uni.
Low Pay Campaigning
Scrooge is alive and well and living in Leicester. As
part of our campaign against Low Paying bosses, and to
highlight the limitations of the government's proposals
on the minimum wage we went down to New Look on
gallowtree Gate. Dave, our branch sec dressed up as
Scrooge, in top hat and tails!
We publicised the fact that New Look can pay some of
their 16 year old employees as little as £2.35 an hour.
16 and 17 year olds will get no minimum wage under the
governments proposals, 18 - 21 year olds will get £3 an
hour and over 21 year olds £3.60. We collected many
signatures on our petition and a lot of support for our
campaign for the minimum wage to have no loopholes and
exceptions, and to be set immediately at at least £4.61
as a step towards £6 an hour.
Election in Mowmacre in
Spring 1998
Dave Baum stood for the Socialist Party Leicester in
the council election in Spring 1998 in Mowmacre and
received 91 votes or 6.2 percent. We based our campaign
on resistance to the closure of 8 schools by the city
council and against cuts in council services. Labour who
have always held this seat suffered a humiliating defeat
in this election. There is massive discontent, but on
this occaision the protest vote went to the Liberals, who
had a local candidate. However we have built a good base
of support for socialist ideas in the area, which will
grow as people realise that the Liberals' policies are
not fundamentaly different to New Labour's.
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